Ever since Er Sheng received the sword that Chang Yuan made for her, she kept it in her hands daily, fondling it whether she had anything to do or not.
Seeing how much she loved it, Chang Yuan, while recovering from his internal injuries, decided to teach her some sword techniques. This way, she wouldn’t be bored just staring at him all day. Er Sheng had an active personality, and these days of confinement had nearly driven her mad. Now that she had something to play with, she immersed herself in it completely, jumping and dancing around with the sword.
If the immortal masters were still here, they would have been astonished by the rapid progress of Er Sheng’s cultivation. But Er Sheng herself was unaware of the changes happening within her body. She was learning swordplay simply because Chang Yuan didn’t have much time to entertain her, and she needed something to pass the time.
Once she became familiar with this area, she grew bold enough to venture down to the Dragon Tomb. Chang Yuan didn’t stop her, and gradually, she gained the courage to touch those lifelike dragon statues.
One day, while Chang Yuan was still in meditation, Er Sheng was practicing sword movements on the ground. Chang Yuan opened his eyes to watch her movements and suddenly froze. “Where did you learn that character?”
“Character?” Er Sheng asked puzzled. “Is this a character? What character is it?”
“Yuan, the character for resentment.”
Er Sheng muttered it several times, her hand tracing the strokes again, trying to memorize the character.
“Does Er Sheng want to learn characters?” Chang Yuan asked. “If you want to learn, I can teach you.”
“I do!” Er Sheng’s eyes lit up. “Chang Yuan is amazing, you know everything! How did I manage to pick such a good husband…”
Chang Yuan smiled. These days, his expressions were no longer as rigid and numb as before, nor did they carry that thousand-mile coldness. Under Er Sheng’s playful expressions and words, he would unconsciously smile – mostly gentle smiles, occasionally with his eyes crinkling. When Er Sheng misbehaved, he would frown, purse his lips, and sometimes even discipline her. However, he couldn’t bring himself to be harsh; at most, he would create a barrier around himself that prevented Er Sheng from getting close. It wouldn’t be long before Er Sheng would know to obediently bow her head and admit her mistakes.
Er Sheng moved closer to Chang Yuan, saying enthusiastically, “I want to learn how to write Chang Yuan’s name first.”
Chang Yuan wrote down his name, and Er Sheng hurriedly copied it beside his writing. Er Sheng was quite clever; after seeing it once, she imitated it stroke by stroke without any deviation. Soon she had memorized it.
Chang Yuan then wrote down Er Sheng’s name, and she repeated it twice, committing all four characters to memory.
Many years later, Er Sheng realized that Chang Yuan had only taught her these four characters, but at the time, she believed he could teach her all the characters. Even years later, when she could read many books, she still believed it was Chang Yuan who had taught her to write.
Of course, that was a story for another time. Now, Er Sheng was delighted to have learned four characters. Her enthusiasm for learning was high, and after writing the character for “yuan” again, she asked Chang Yuan, “How do you write the character for ‘hen’ (hate) that comes after it?”
Chang Yuan suddenly remembered he should investigate the source of this character. When he asked Er Sheng, she pointed to the towering dragon clan stele: “It’s on this monument.”
Chang Yuan was startled and hurriedly walked to the stele. After circling it once, his expression became confused. “When I first came here, there were no characters on this stele, yet now so many have appeared without notice…”
Seeing Chang Yuan’s solemn expression, Er Sheng felt a bit anxious. “Is this a bad thing?”
Chang Yuan was silent for a moment before turning to look at Er Sheng. “It’s neither good nor bad, but it’s suspicious. Wait here for a few days while I check the Dragon Tomb again.”
Er Sheng obediently agreed.
After Chang Yuan entered the Dragon Tomb, Er Sheng sat down and wrote “Chang Yuan Er Sheng” over and over again, as if writing these four characters somehow made her heart feel more at ease. When she grew tired of sitting, she would practice sword movements, and when she became exhausted, she would sit down to write again. After repeating this cycle countless times, the sky gradually darkened.
Er Sheng was leaning against a haystack, staring absently at the stele when suddenly she heard the clear sound of bells, tinkling as if coming from the edge of the sky, extraordinarily pleasing to the ear. She looked toward the source of the sound and suddenly saw a strange color streak across the sky. As she focused her gaze, that figure instantly appeared within her clear line of sight.
It was a man wearing a crimson robe with gold trim. His hair was bound high on his head, not a strand out of place. He rode the clouds as he came, appearing to take just one step, yet crossing thousands of miles in an instant, arriving before Er Sheng in the blink of an eye.
The man before her looked extremely imposing, and Er Sheng couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe, along with an inexplicable excitement. But what she was excited about, she couldn’t say.
The newcomer looked at her once and immediately called out, “Siming.”
Er Sheng was stunned. This was the third time she had heard this name – once from Chang Yuan’s lips, the second time from that strange man Chang An’s mouth, and now this third time. Did she look so similar to this person called Siming in their eyes?
“My name is Er Sheng,” she said firmly, looking directly into his brown pupils.
“It doesn’t matter,” the man walked to Er Sheng’s side, looking her up and down before letting out a cold snort. “You’re certainly a person of your word, you did help him.”
Though Er Sheng didn’t understand what he was saying, her heart suddenly felt guilty, making her unconsciously want to step back. “Who are you?”
“Your superior, the Heavenly Emperor.” He said coldly. Seeing Er Sheng’s complete bewilderment, he muttered quietly, “…The Waters of Forgetfulness truly work well.”
“I don’t know you.”
“You do,” he said imperiously. He untied a somewhat damaged bell from his waist – the source of the bell sound Er Sheng had heard earlier. The Heavenly Emperor tied the bell’s string around Er Sheng’s wrist, not caring whether she agreed or not, displaying the typical behavior of one in authority. He said, “I came for nothing else but to inform you: if you try to help, I will certainly stop you. If you could help him break the seal of the Ten Thousand Heavens Void, I can also put him back in.”
The Heavenly Emperor’s cold gaze swept across the massive stele that pierced the clouds, his sharp eyes seeing the character for “yuan” (resentment) that had emerged on its surface.
“If you stubbornly insist on giving him some kind of freedom, then I will let his soul scatter and spirit disperse – that’s true freedom.”
Er Sheng listened in confusion, while the unease and fear in her heart grew stronger with each word he spoke.
“Who are you talking about? Chang Yuan? You can’t harm him! No one is allowed to hurt Chang Yuan!”
The Heavenly Emperor lightly waved his hand above Er Sheng’s head, and suddenly she felt as if her head was being torn apart. She clutched her head and rolled on the ground, the pain almost making it impossible to breathe.
A flash of reluctance passed through the Heavenly Emperor’s eyes: “Siming, you shouldn’t have defied fate. You hid your tracks in the mortal realm well, but heaven’s net casts wide, and you couldn’t escape this punishment forever.”
At this moment, Er Sheng felt she thoroughly despised this person before her. Apart from his good looks, he had no other redeeming qualities. His words made no sense, and he had her in unbearable pain, yet he maintained an “I want to save you but I’m powerless” expression.
How could there be such a twisted person in this world…
In truth, Er Sheng didn’t know that she was Siming’s reincarnation. Siming had committed a crime, and consequently, her reincarnation would inevitably face punishment from the Heavenly Court – whether it be lifelong deafness and muteness, or an incurable affliction. But previously, the Heavenly Realm hadn’t been able to find traces of Siming’s reincarnation. It wasn’t until today that the Heavenly Emperor had finally tracked her down.
The Heavenly Emperor watched Er Sheng struggling on the ground and said, “If that dragon truly cares for you, he’ll know what to do when he sees the bell on your hand.”
“You… bully.”
Er Sheng was in so much pain that her consciousness was becoming hazy. The Heavenly Emperor’s face swam before her eyes, sometimes splitting into three images, sometimes into four.
“You certainly won’t understand what I’ve said today. But when the day comes that you return to your position, I only hope you can let go of these obsessions and not fall into demonic cultivation.” The Heavenly Emperor turned to leave. As Er Sheng’s vision darkened, she vaguely heard him say one last thing:
“I have never enjoyed imprisoning anyone’s freedom, but I am the Heavenly Emperor. With this ancient prophecy, I dare not gamble with the fate of all living beings.”
What ancient prophecy, what heavenly mandate – it’s all nonsense. This thought inexplicably surfaced in Er Sheng’s mind as the pain in her head grew increasingly sharp, while her consciousness gradually dimmed until she finally fell into a deep sleep.
When Er Sheng next opened her eyes, she saw Chang Yuan. Her head was resting on his lap, his ink-black hair hanging down carelessly, the ends tickling her cheeks.
“Er Sheng is awake.” Chang Yuan lowered his head and stroked her hair, his brown pupils seeming to look at her while also seeing through her to something else. He remained silent, saying nothing more. Even someone as dense as Er Sheng could tell that something was very wrong with Chang Yuan at this moment.
“Chang Yuan.” Er Sheng grabbed his hanging hair, her voice carrying three parts fear and seven parts threat. “You’re not allowed to leave. Wherever you go, you must take me with you!”
Chang Yuan couldn’t raise his head due to her grip. His heavy thoughts were scattered as he silently looked at Er Sheng for a while before saying, “Er Sheng, it hurts.”
How could it not hurt? She was yanking on about a dozen strands of his hair – with a bit more force, she could have torn his scalp off.
Er Sheng let go, but fearing Chang Yuan might run away, she looked around not knowing what to grab. Finally, she simply sat up and seized his collar, pulling him close to her face, staring at him intently: “If you don’t leave, I won’t pull your hair.”
Seeing Er Sheng looking as if she might hit him, Chang Yuan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “Alright, I won’t leave.”
Only then did Er Sheng’s heart settle a little. She released her grip and helped straighten his wrinkled collar. The bell on her wrist jingled continuously. Chang Yuan’s eyes lowered to the bell on Er Sheng’s wrist, and he pressed his lips together thoughtfully: “Er Sheng…”
Just as he began to speak, Er Sheng suddenly grabbed the bell on her wrist and tried desperately to pull it off. But how could something the Heavenly Emperor personally placed be removed by such brute force? A layer of skin was rubbed off her wrist, yet the bell remained firmly in place.
Chang Yuan sighed and held her hand: “There’s no need for this.”
Er Sheng bit her lip: “That person said you would leave when you saw the bell…”
“Er Sheng knows I was once imprisoned in a place without sunlight.” Chang Yuan held Er Sheng’s hand, touching the bell on her wrist. “That place is called the Ten Thousand Heavens Void, a dead zone between heaven and earth. It lies at the edge of the earth, deep beneath a cliff. This bell is a divine object that hangs at the edge of that cliff. Whether someone enters from outside or someone inside tries to leave, it will alert the heavens, and heavenly soldiers will come to prevent outsiders from entering and me from leaving. They put this on your hand merely to intimidate, to make me know my place and return obediently.”
Er Sheng didn’t understand: “But you’ve already come out.”
“That’s why the heavenly soldiers have come to capture me.”
Er Sheng shouted, “But you didn’t do anything wrong, you shouldn’t be locked up in such a place!”
“I am a dragon,” Chang Yuan’s voice carried a confusion he couldn’t explain himself. “According to ancient prophecy, this world will be destroyed by the claws of divine dragons… I will destroy the three realms and slaughter all living beings.”
“Chang Yuan would never!” Er Sheng immediately retorted, “Though you rarely smile, you look so foolish and gentle, how could you do such things?”
Chang Yuan was stunned by these words for a long while, finally realizing that Er Sheng was trying to comfort him… although it sounded more like an insult.
He curved his lips with a hint of bitterness: “Originally, I thought so too.”
Chang Yuan raised his eyes to the massive Dragon Tomb, squinting at the dense characters for “resentment” that was slowly spreading up the stele. He said, “Er Sheng, now even I don’t know what kind of… thing I am anymore.”
Er Sheng finally noticed something wrong with Chang Yuan’s words and asked worriedly, “Chang Yuan, what did you see in that stele? Did your ancestors appear to talk to you?”
Chang Yuan was startled again, considered for a moment, then nodded: “I suppose… you could say that.”
Er Sheng understood. In her view, meeting ancestral spirits was a major event, no wonder Chang Yuan’s eyes held such a lost and disheveled look.
She patted Chang Yuan’s shoulder comfortingly: “As long as they didn’t threaten to take you away, nothing else is a big deal. If they say they want to take you away… hmm, just tell them you’re my person now and can’t make your own decisions. Tell them to come find me, I’ll help you deal with them.”
His heavy mood was lightened by Er Sheng’s pretense of worldliness. He rubbed her forehead hair: “You’re right. Nothing matters more than life and death. Worry and anxiety can’t change anything.”
Er Sheng happily hugged Chang Yuan’s arm: “Then everything’s fine. You’re here, I’m here. You won’t leave, I won’t leave.” Er Sheng didn’t ask what Chang Yuan had seen in the stele, nor did she mention her encounter with the Heavenly Emperor, even ignoring the lingering pain in her head.
Nothing frightened her more than being alone. As long as Chang Yuan was still here, everything else was secondary.
Chang Yuan simply allowed Er Sheng to nestle against him affectionately, listening to the jingling of the bell on her wrist as he lowered his gaze.
He thought, the ancient prophecy was one matter, and accompanying Er Sheng and protecting her through this life was another. For now, the ancient prophecy could be set aside. The urgent matter was dealing with the people heaven had sent to capture him.
Chang Yuan’s thinking was simple – he wanted to be with Er Sheng, to see the beauty of this world together, to experience life’s joys and sorrows. But someone wouldn’t allow his wish… well if he just gave a thorough beating to whoever was trying to stop this, beat them until they had no more objections, then it would happen.
Of course, this bandit-like thinking also came from Siming…
The Dragon Valley had long been uninhabited, with only his, Er Sheng’s, and that “pursuer’s” aura in the air. Chang Yuan searched the air for traces of that person’s movement. When night fell and Er Sheng was asleep, Chang Yuan quietly left, following the aura.
Chang Yuan had thought he would return to Er Sheng’s side before dawn, thinking he was just going to deal with a minor heavenly pursuer.
When Er Sheng woke the next day and looked up, beyond the endless grassland, she could no longer see Chang Yuan’s figure.
“Chang Yuan…”
As soon as Er Sheng called his name, her head felt like it was being torn apart. However, the panic in her heart had already frightened her so much that she couldn’t care about the pain in her head. She ran several circles around the Dragon Tomb, calling Chang Yuan’s name again and again, enduring the increasingly intense pain in her head, until finally faced reality.
He was gone.
Chang Yuan was gone…
Her body went weak, and Er Sheng collapsed to the ground, staring blankly at the tall, cold Dragon Tomb. The dragons on it still looked as lifelike as when she first saw them.
Chang Yuan… my head hurts.
It hurts so much…
Er Sheng waited in the Dragon Valley for three days and three nights without closing her eyes, until all the grassroots that Chang Yuan had cleared for her were eaten. Er Sheng tidied herself up, gripped the One-Scale Sword that Chang Yuan had left her, and with her two front teeth worn white, walked unsteadily across the long, marsh-like grassland of the Dragon Valley.
She remembered Chang Yuan telling her that if she walked toward where the sun rose, she would reach the Valley’s barrier, and the One-Scale Sword could break through it.
Upon reaching the seal, before leaving the valley, Er Sheng looked back one last time, seeing in the distance the huge standing stele, the entire Dragon Valley in dead silence…
The silent wind blew gently as if whispering in Er Sheng’s ear:
Dragon Valley, never again will dragons return.
Er Sheng clutched her head as it felt like it was about to split apart in that instant.